Sony Deal Ends Cable Box Era

Commission aims to block media stranglehold

(NEWSER) - Comcast should only be able to go through with its plans to buy NBC Universal if it's willing to share the media giant’s content with its competitors, according to Julius Genachowski. The FCC chairman gave his conditional approval for the merger last week, proposing a set of rules that would force Comcast to allow rival cable providers and satellite TV companies access to NBC’s content at a reasonable price. More»

Search king teams up with Intel, Sony for TV project

(NEWSER) - Google is scrambling for a piece of the action as more and more people use their TVs to access web content. The search giant has teamed up with Intel and Sony to build a new generation of TVs and set-top boxes using its Chrome browser and Android cell phone system, the New York Times reports. More»

Americans are more and more likely to have watched shows online

(NEWSER) - More and more Americans are watching television exclusively online and ditching their cable or satellite service. One-quarter of families have tuned in online, and 25% of those viewers have watched a full-length show on a computer—a 67% jump just since 2007. “The idea that you come home and your entertainment choices are dictated on what some entertainment channel decides is not for me,” a tech-savvy early adapter tells the Los Angeles Times. More»

(NEWSER) - Sony will delay production of its next-generation ultrathin television as the struggling electronics giant seeks to avoid further losses, reports the Wall Street Journal. The organic light emitting diode, or OLED, television was to succeed a three-millimeter-thick model released in late 2007, but will be held back until at least next year. At present Sony is on track for a sixth straight year in the red. More»

Millions of American viewers could lose signal today

(NEWSER) - As the US completes the shift to digital TV today, viewers in more than 2 million households will see nothing but static, according to Nielsen and broadcasters’ estimates. Those without signals are likely to be from poorer, rural, and older demographics, the Wall Street Journal reports—though Nielsen research finds that elderly people are the "most ready," TVNewsday notes. More»